Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to welcome Madeline Shavalier to Ottawa. Her son bravely served Canada in Afghanistan and she herself was a Canadian army lieutenant nursing sister during the Second World War.

On November 6, 1943, while travelling from England to a post in Italy, Madeline's ship was bombed and sunk by the Germans. After stopping to aid a friend who had fainted during the evacuation, both were able to climb down into a lifeboat. Although German planes were still circling, cloud cover allowed for everyone on board to be rescued.

Madeline served with the nursing sisters earning five medals, including the Italy Star, the Defence Medal and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal.

Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, June 23, the vision of our former leader, Jack Layton, will be honoured at the opening of Jack Layton Park in his hometown of Hudson, Quebec.

Formerly known as the Hudson Marina, the park offers a magnificent view of the Lac des Deux-Montagnes.

The park will commemorate the legacy of Jack Layton, who spent his youth in Hudson, on the lake, and was very involved in the community there throughout his political career.

This park will serve to remind us of Jack and his legacy, that we should hold on to our optimism, move forward with love and keep focused on the true values of Canadians, values such as diversity, tolerance and social justice.

I am proud to inaugurate the Jack Layton Park in my riding and I invite all members to celebrate with us on June 23.

Mr. Speaker, on National Aboriginal Day, June 21, we celebrate aboriginal cultures and traditions by taking part in festivities across the country.

Since National Aboriginal Day was proclaimed in 1996, more and more Canadians have taken time each year to learn about the incredible accomplishments and contributions of first nations, Inuit and Métis to our great country. On this day, we celebrate the diversity and heritage of aboriginal people and we honour their unique place in the history of Canada.

Indeed, the traditions and cultures of first nations, Inuit and Métis have become part of the fabric of Canada.

Taking part in National Aboriginal Day is an excellent way to promote a better knowledge and understanding of aboriginal groups and their contribution to Canada.

I invite all Canadians, including members of this House today, to join our community and our country to celebrate National Aboriginal Day.

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Commission reported earlier this week that aboriginal and first nations groups have lodged many complaints against the federal government since 2008.

Not surprisingly, some complaints were about the condition of housing on reserves. We all remember the images of the dilapidated houses in Attawapiskat.

The situation must be serious if these groups have to go before the Canadian Human Rights Commission to ensure respect for their right to housing.

Even today, members of the community continue to live in shacks where living conditions are unbearable.

The NDP has proposed real solutions to ensure safe, appropriate, accessible and affordable housing for all Canadians, but the government is still refusing to work with the provinces, territories, municipal representatives and aboriginal communities to establish a national housing strategy.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service, more commonly known as the Wrens, as they celebrate their upcoming 70th anniversary.

Founded in 1942, the Wrens have a proud history of serving Canada when we needed them most. Between 1942 and 1946, close to 7,000 volunteers joined the Wrens and served within the war effort performing non-tradition jobs like maintaining anti-submarine equipment, aircraft, communications, cryptology and more.

The contributions made by the brave women of the Wrens as full and equal partners were crucial in support of Canada's war effort. These women were pioneers and their legacy is assured since by 1955 women were fully integrated into the regular component of the Royal Canadian Navy, and they continue to serve in all aspects of Canada's defence, including combat.

I would ask that all members join the Minister of National Defence and myself, the member for Etobicoke Centre, in offering our sincerest thanks and congratulations to the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service on this momentous occasion of its 70th anniversary of service.

Mr. Speaker, for two weeks this summer, the best athletes in the world will meet in London for the Olympics. Nearly 250 Canadian athletes will represent our country in 20 sports. Our team, led by the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Marcel Aubut, and his chef de mission, the extraordinary Mark Tewksbury, will be able to count on experienced athletes, such as my friends Adam van Koeverden, Clara Hughes and Alex Despatie, as well as on young hopefuls, such as Michael Tayler and Martha McCabe, who will be at the Olympics for the first time this year.

For Canadian athletes, getting to the Olympics means thousands of hours of training and sacrifice to be able to represent their country in the biggest sporting event in the world. Only a rare few have that honour, so I know it is with much pride that our delegation will soon leave for London.

I want to tell all those athletes how proud we are of them and remind them that, from the starting gun to the finish line, 34 million Canadians will be cheering for them every step of the way.

Mr. Speaker, today, on National Aboriginal Day, I would like to take a moment to remember the contributions of aboriginal soldiers, peacekeepers and servicemen, such as police officers.

Thousands of aboriginal veterans saw action and endured hardship in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, on peacekeeping assignments and while protecting this great nation. They fought overseas to defend the sovereignty and liberty of allied nations, in addition to supporting the cause at home. This proud tradition of service continues today.

I, myself, having served in the RCMP for over 18 years, attained the rank of sergeant. On July 7, 2006, under my command, two first nations colleagues of mine, Constable Marc Bourdage and Constable Robin Cameron who was the first female shot in the line of duty, were killed while serving their country.

Today, we honour aboriginals who served and continue to serve with honour and distinction in all branches of the Canadian military. We remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the values and freedoms we enjoy today.

This National Aboriginal Day, let us all reflect on the aboriginals who have served in the name of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today and announce the first-ever “most likely to do the shuffle” awards.

Of course we start with the award for the champagne Conservative, the Minister of International Cooperation, but she should watch out because her colleagues are spending hard on limos and catching up.

As for the most costly photo op award, who else but our very own Minister of National Defence, who spent $47,000 on posing with an F-35 that cannot fly. It was not only very expensive, but also tragically ironic.

Last but not least, the award for least likely to make cabinet is a tie between the members from Kootenay—Columbia and Nanaimo—Alberni. Here is my advice: if they remove that independent thinking and insert talking points, they will be just fine in about 20 years.

I really do hope these awards help the Prime Minister as he tries to clean up this mess.

Mr. Speaker, let us go back over our government's record this past spring.

We have increased full and part-time jobs, lowered taxes for Canadian families, signed new trade agreements, invested $150 million for community infrastructure and expanded Canada's student loans and grants. We brought “royal” back to our navy and air force and we cut red tape for veterans. We have created national parks and expanded existing parks. We have invested $50 million to protect species at risk. We have maintained our country's path for jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

That leader called an entire sector of the economy a disease. He believes the only way to promote growth in one sector of the economy is to drive another one down.

As countries around the world struggle with out-of-control deficits and debt, Canada is on the right track to balance the budget, and while our government rolls up its sleeves and continues on the path to provide opportunity, hope and long-term prosperity for Canadians, we expect the NDP leader--

Mr. Speaker, the F-35 is probably the biggest procurement fiasco in the history of Canada. There was no bidding process to buy the jet, which does not even work. And even if it did work, it would not meet the criteria set by the government. Then there is the $47,000 photo op with the full-scale model. The Minister of National Defence is responsible for this failure.

Mr. Speaker, the government has not yet purchased the F-35. On the contrary, we have said many times that we will replace the jets when necessary, at the end of this decade. Now, we are in the process of rebuilding the Canadian armed forces. It is very important to give our men and women in uniform the equipment they need. I am very proud of our government's track record on this.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the Prime Minister respects the French language, and Canadians appreciate the fact that he answers questions in French. However, the Conservatives' political decisions should reflect that respect. For example, the Minister of Canadian Heritage is cutting funding for French-language newspapers, such as Manitoba's La Liberté and Sudbury's Le Voyageur, in half. The minister says that he cannot do anything because there is a formula. But the minister is the one who came up with the formula.

Will the Prime Minister scrap the minister's formula, or the minister for that matter, and save Canada's French-language newspapers?

Mr. Speaker, this government's level of support for such activities is unprecedented. Our commitment to the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality is unprecedented. Also unprecedented is the fact that the NDP fields unilingual candidates in francophone ridings. The Conservative Party has never done that.

Mr. Speaker, this spring we saw the Conservatives abandon the very principles they claim they came to Ottawa to defend: ramming through their Trojan Horse budget bill, gutting their own Federal Accountability Act, treating their backbench MPs like a rubber stamp, using closure a record number of times, engaging in electoral fraud and slush funds and, of course, having ministers travelling the world staying in luxury hotels and taking $23,000 limo rides on the taxpayers' dime.

How can a former member of the Reform Party defend this behaviour?

This summer, will the Prime Minister just shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic or will he get his Conservative cabinet under control?